BUFFALO, N.Y. – The question “Who rules big
data?” and how these information technologies change our
understanding and application of the law is the subject of the
University at Buffalo’s annual Mitchell Lecture.

When: 2 p.m. Friday, March 27.

Where: Room 106 O’Brian Hall, UB Law School, North
Campus.

What: The Mitchell Lecture is the UB Law School’s
signature lecture series. This year’s lecture, “Who
Rules Big Data? Law, Knowledge and Power,” examines how
so-called big data, which are data sets so large or complex they
defy traditional data processing applications, can determine
decisions and judgment about individuals that may or may not be
appropriate and respect their legal rights.

Why: “There’s a sea change here, a deeper
question that is alarming,” says Martha McCluskey, professor
of law and chair of the event’s organizing committee.
“Some people are arguing that big data is not just another
new thing for the law to address, but that it really cuts to the
heart of what we think of as law. It’s usurping the
decision-making of law to a large degree.”

The quantification based on this massive amount of data can take
on “the aura of law,” McCluskey says. “It’s
a method of decision-making that has the appearance of supreme
rationality and objectivity, almost like a divine thing —
we’re transcending the human flaws.”

McCluskey cites the example of credit scores, determinations
based on such “big data.” They help banks evaluate a
potential borrower’s creditworthiness, McCluskey says, but
are also used by employers to screen out some job seekers, so that
a person’s score determines qualifications in areas that
“may have nothing to do with credit.”

Who: Three scholars who approach big data in different
ways will lead the discussion.

n Virginia Eubanks, professor of women’s studies at
the University at Albany, will talk about technology and
surveillance in the government administration of social welfare
programs.

n Elizabeth Joh, professor of law at the University of
California, Davis, will discuss data analysis and surveillance in
the criminal justice system.

n Frank Pasquale, professor of law at the University of
Maryland, will discuss his new book, “The Black Box Society:
The Secret Algorithms That Control Money and
Information.”